Clicking Needles....

This is what I have been working on in the evenings:

I found this fun design while digging in a basket in an antique shop in Rye, England. Cost me a whopping 30p ($0.75 cents)! While the pattern recommends an angora yarn, I am using a very simple but nice smokey grey acrylic, with the birds in an off-white. The pattern recommends using a red yarn for the birds beaks. Can you imagine that? I figure if I don't like the appearance once I have completed the sweater I can stitch in some colour when I am finished. I'll photograph the front of my own soon...oh and put a bird on it!

Summer Rice Salad

Trying to figure out something different for dinner, I was recently wandering the aisles at my local Bulk Barn and noticed the various rice blends they have available. I grabbed some, just to try. When I got home, it occurred to me that these rice blends would be perfect for a cold, rice salad. Most of the blends available have bulger wheat, wheat berries, lentils, et al. and are just screaming to be chilled with a nice vinaigrette!

I settled on a tabouleh recipe: a simple 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of olive oil. Mark Bittman recommends using lots of freshly ground pepper. Added some red peppers and cilantro I had on hand and voila! It tastes incredible! Next summer party I am making this because it is SO easy!

Makes me HaPpY!

I love this video....shot in France....http://machine-a-voyager.voyages-sncf.com/

The Stupidity of Rhubarb

Oh! Only about a month ago I trekked to pick rhubarb at a secret patch. The motivation: to make a Rhubarb Coffee Cake which I bake every Spring. Thankfully, if you consistently pick your rhubarb patch, you can make the patch last throughout the summer. Otherwise it will go to seed and you must wait another year.

So may this be an electronic reminder to myself!

Secondly, it is important to take pictures of the said cake you are about to write about on a blog you rarely maintain. I secured a picture at the batter stage, but unfortunately ate the results of said cake before photographing it. Perhaps I am just learning how to blog!

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Cake Batter:
1/2 cup of Oil
1 1/2 cup of White Sugar
1 Egg
1 cup of Sour Milk (add one tsp of vinegar to regular milk to make lumpy)
2 cups of Flour
1 tsp of Vanilla
1/2 tsp of Salt
1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Baking Soda
3 cups of finely chopped Rhubarb

Topping: (combine the following)
1/3 cups of Sugar
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1/2 cup of Walnuts

1. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk.
2. Beat oil, sugar, vanilla and egg together.
3. Combine your dry ingredients and add wet mixture alternating with milk. Stir in rhubarb.
4. Pour into a 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle with Topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

The Hippie Food: Granola

I hate breakfast. The food selection is a tad limited. Eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, fruit, cereal. But I love a good European breakfast: cold cuts, croissants, butter (and lots of it), smoked fish and yogurt. And what goes best on yogurt but granola!

Lately, I have been going towards comfort foods and foods my Mom used to make when I was young. And there is something wonderful about homemade granola. And was my Mom a hippie? She'll deny it - but she did have a beaded curtain.

Mom's Granola
6 cups of Oatmeal (I really like the gluten free Only Oats! - one pkg of)
1 cup of unsweetened coconut
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of honey (though you may want to reduce this amount if you want it less sweet)
1/2 cup of veg oil
Cranberries, raisins (half a cup of each or more if you prefer)

Don't add the fruit til the end!!!- otherwise you will have fruit rocks!
(you like your teeth don't you?)

Combine your the above ingredients (but do not add the fruit!!!). I have been looking at various Mark Bittman recipes and he does not use the veg oil. Personally, I have tried it without and you get a more golden appearance and less burnt taste.

This is the loverly golden colour it should be!

Spread out evenly on baking trays with parchment and bake at 350 degrees. Stir the granola every 10 minutes to evenly brown.

 

The parchment is a great tool to lift up the bottom bits of the granola rather then relying entirely on a spatula. Wait until the granola is cool and add your crans and raisins. Store in an airtight container for two weeks.

You can get really fancy with what you put in your granola: like chunks of dark chocolate and dried cherries.....but basic is sooo good. Why mess with a good thing?

Horses at the Post

Despite the overtly girly design of this blog, I hope my little project can share with you a plethora of different creations I am up to. If you know me, I am always up to something: crafts, food, knitting, art, writing etc. I might as well start a blog to document it, yes? Otherwise I may lose track of everything I have accomplished....or burnt.